CHAPTER EIGHT
Richard rolled out of bed and reached for his jeans. Savannah was making breakfast, and if his nose didn’t deceive him, it smelled like one of his favorites. French toast.
Yawning, he grabbed a shirt on his way out the door and bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Mornin’,” he said, yawning again. He glanced at the wall clock and was surprised to see it was after nine. A midmorning breakfast cooked specially for him meant his sister was planning on a little heart-to-heart. Damn.
“Morning,” Savannah returned in that gentle way of hers. At times it was all he could do not to leap behind her, waving his arms and screaming at the top of his lungs. He wondered if he’d get a reaction from her even then. Somehow he doubted it.
“Grady needs you to drive into town this morning.”
“No problem.” Actually Richard liked running errands. They suited his purpose. Every time Grady sent him into town, he managed to pick up an item or two for himself and put it on his brother’s tab without Grady’s knowing a thing about it.
Savannah delivered a plate to the table where Richard sat waiting. He dug into the meal after slathering his hot toast with plenty of butter and syrup. Savannah didn’t disappear, which meant the errand for Grady wasn’t the only thing on her mind.
“There’s been plenty of talk around town about you and Ellie,” she said, clutching the back of the chair opposite his.
The tension in her fingers told him she felt awkward addressing the subject. Lord, his sister was easy to read!
“That so?” He stuffed another forkful of French toast in his mouth.
“Ellie’s a real sweetheart.”
He shrugged.
Savannah pulled out the chair and sat down.
Damn it, he’d asked for that. Knowing his sister was fond of the other woman, he should have talked her up, fabricated a few things, let his sister think he’d fallen in love with Ellie. He hadn’t, but his interest in her was definitely high at the moment. A lot was riding on this, and if he managed to manipulate the situation to his liking, it meant staying in the community. After fixing his current problems of course. Yeah, he could see a future here. Become one of the leading lights in Promise. Turn this place around. And it all hinged on little Ellie Frasier.
“I don’t want you to hurt her, Richard.”
This was quite a statement from Savannah. “Hurt Ellie?” He tried to look shocked that she’d even suggest such a thing.
“Ellie’s…fragile just now.”
“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to hurt Ellie.” He set his fork down as if to say the mere idea had robbed him of his appetite.
“Then your intentions are honorable?”
Leave it to Savannah to sound like she was living in the nineteenth century. She could’ve set up camp at Bitter End and fit right in.
“Of course my intentions are honorable. In fact, I intend to ask Ellie to be my wife.” Richard assumed this was what Savannah wanted to hear, but she didn’t react that way he’d expected. He’d hoped that when he mentioned words like “wife” and “marriage,” she’d go all feminine on him and start nattering about wedding plans.
“It’s a big step for me,” he added, thinking she’d be quick to praise his decision.
Savannah frowned. “I heard about this little lottery thing you’ve got going.”
“Oh, that.” He dismissed her concern with an airy gesture. Word traveled fast in small towns and he’d forgotten that.
“I don’t think placing bets on…on love, on whether Ellie’s going to marry you or Glen, is such a good idea.”
“It was a joke,” he said. What Savannah didn’t understand and what he couldn’t tell her was that the whole thing had gotten started when he’d had one too many beers. Naturally he’d taken a lot of ribbing about the fiasco at the dance.
The whole thing was Glen Patterson’s fault. In Richard’s opinion, the rancher owed him an apology. Ellie had been his date and Glen had been way out of line butting in at the dance.
“Joking with another person’s affections—”
“I’m not joking with Ellie,” Richard interrupted. “I love her, Savannah,” he said, doing his best to look and sound sincere. What he really loved about Ellie Frasier was the store and her inheritance. That Ellie wasn’t hard on the eyes was a bonus. Marriage wasn’t such a bad idea either. He could grow accustomed to bedded bliss, not to mention regular meals. Savannah had spoiled him, preparing elaborate dinners and baking his favorite goodies, although she tended to do less of that these days.
“It isn’t only Ellie I want to talk to you about.”
“You mean there’s more?” He tried not to sound perturbed, but really, this was getting ridiculous. He didn’t need his big sister prying into his private life, nor did he appreciate this need she had to lecture him. He’d been out of the schoolroom too many years to sit still for much more of this.
His sister pursed her lips in exactly the way their mother used to. “I got a phone call from Millie about an unpaid flower bill.”
“Millie?”
“You know Millie.” Her tone left no room for argument.
“Oh, that Millie.” He was walking a tightrope when it came to a number of charges he’d made in town during the past few months. He’d hoped to have moved on by now, but this romance with Ellie had fallen into his lap and he couldn’t let the opportunity just slip through his fingers. He’d also made contingency plans—no fool he. He’d found the perfect hiding place when and if he needed it. But he couldn’t leave Promise yet and perhaps not for some time. Keeping Grady and Savannah in the dark until he’d secured his future was proving to be something of a challenge.
“Millie said you owed her four hundred dollars. I realize your…check hasn’t arrived yet—” she didn’t meet his eyes “—but you have to make some kind of arrangement with Millie.”
He toyed with the idea of being shocked to hear it was that much money, but thought better of it. “Well, I have just a little money left.” He hoped that was vague enough so she wouldn’t question it. “In fact, I was in just yesterday and made a payment,” he said.
“I talked to Millie yesterday and she claimed she hadn’t seen you in weeks.” Savannah’s eyes had never been that cool before.
“I didn’t see Millie, just one of her employees.”
“I didn’t know Millie had anyone working for her.”
Savannah pinned him with her gaze.
“Summer help, I assume,” he murmured. “I’ve got the receipt up in my room if you want to see it.” He put the right amount of indignation into his voice to make sure she understood he found her lack of trust insulting.
“If you say you made a payment, then I don’t have any choice but to believe you.”
Richard shoved his chair away from the table. “I’m getting the distinct impression I’m no longer welcome around here.” He stopped short of reminding her he’d been born and raised in this very house, fearing that might be overkill, even with a softhearted woman like his sister.
“It isn’t that.”
“I’ve come home,” he said, tilting his chin at a proud angle. “It wasn’t easy to arrive on your doorstep with nothing. Now that I’m here, I’ve realized that I made a mistake ever leaving. Promise is my home. I’ve fallen in love and I want to make a new life for myself with friends and neighbors I grew up with. People I’ve known all my life. If you want to kick me out, then all you or Grady need to do is say the word and I’ll be gone.” He drew the line and dared her to cross it. Basically it was a gamble, but one he was willing to take. He’d been a gambler most of his life, after all—one who usually had an ace up his sleeve.
“I won’t ask you to move,” she said after a moment.
He hadn’t really thought she would.
“But I’m giving you fair warning—tread lightly when it comes to Ellie.”
He widened his eyes, disliking her brisk tone.
“And pay your bills. Once Grady gets wind of this, there’ll be trouble. His nature isn’t nearly as generous as mine.”
“You haven’t got a thing to worry about,” Richard said, and as a conciliatory gesture, he carried his plate to the sink.
***
It had sounded so simple when Glen talked to his father nearly a week earlier. Asking Ellie to marry him had seemed the right thing to do. But Richard’s interest in her had muddied an already complicated issue. From the gossip circulating around town, Weston had definitely taken advantage of the time Glen stayed away.
Fine. Great. Wonderful. If Ellie was so impressed with Richard, she could have him. At least that was what Glen told himself a dozen times a day, but no matter how often he said it, he couldn’t quite make himself believe it.
“I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do,” he muttered. He sometimes did his thinking out loud, and talking to a horse was safer than talking to certain people. As he cleaned the gelding’s hooves, Moonshine perked up his ears in apparent sympathy.
“You talking to me?” Cal shouted from the other side of the barn.
Glen didn’t realize his brother was anywhere nearby. “No,” he hollered, hoping to discourage further conversation.
It didn’t work.
“Who you talking to, then?”
“No one!” he snapped. Glen was the first to admit he hadn’t been great company lately. That was one reason he’d kept to himself as much as possible and avoided Cal.
“You still down in the mouth about Ellie?” Cal asked, sounding much closer this time.
It was on the tip of Glen’s tongue to tell his brother to mind his own damn business. Lord, but he was tired of it all. Tired of being so confused by this woman he could no longer think. Tired of worrying she’d actually marry Richard. Tired of feeling miserable.
“How’d I get into this mess?” Glen asked hopelessly.
“Women specialize in wearing a man down,” Cal said, peering into the stall.
“Ellie isn’t Jennifer,” Glen felt obliged to remind him. That was the problem with discussing things with Cal. His brother refused to look past the pain and embarrassment his ex-fiancée had caused him. Everything was tainted by their ruined relationship.
“I know.”
Glen lowered Moonshine’s foot to the ground and slowly straightened. The small of his back ached. He pressed his hand to the area and massaged the sore muscles before he opened the stall door.
Glen watched Cal carry a bucket of oats to his own gelding. Suddenly it was all too much. He couldn’t stand it anymore. Damn it all, he loved Ellie and if she wasn’t willing to come to him, then by God he’d go to her. The rush of relief he experienced was overwhelming.
“I’m asking Ellie to marry me,” he said boldly, bracing himself for the backlash of Cal’s reaction.
Cal went very still. Finally he asked, “Is that what you want?”
“Damn straight it is.”
“Then…great.”
Glen blinked, wondering if he was hearing things. The one person he’d expected to talk him out of proposing was Cal.
“You love her?”
“Of course I do,” Glen said. “I wouldn’t ask a woman to share my life if I didn’t.”
Cal laughed and slapped Glen on the shoulder. “So I guess congratulations are in order.”
Glen rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. He didn’t feel like throwing a party just yet.
“When are you going to ask her?”
“I…I don’t know yet,” Glen confessed. He’d only decided this five seconds ago.
He glanced at his watch. If he showered quickly he could make the drive into town and talk to Ellie before she left the shop. It seemed fitting that he ask her to marry him at the feed store, considering that most of their courtship had taken place there. At the time, however, he hadn’t realized he’d been courting her.
“I think I’ll do it tonight,” he said. Feeling euphoric, he’d dashed halfway out of the barn when Cal stopped him.
“Have you got her an engagement ring?”
A ring? Damn, he hadn’t thought of that. “Do I need one?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
Glen could feel the panic rising up inside him. Cal must have seen it, too, because he offered Glen the ring he had in his bottom drawer.
“I’ve still got the one I bought for Jennifer.”
“But that belongs to you.”
“Go ahead and take it. It’s a beautiful diamond. After Ellie agrees, then the two of you can go shopping and pick out a new one if she wants. Although this one’s perfectly good.”
Things were beginning to fall nicely into place. “Thanks.” As Glen recalled, Cal had gone for broke buying Jennifer’s diamond. Damn shame to keep it buried in a drawer. If Ellie liked that ring, he’d buy it from his brother; she need never know the ring was sightly used.
A quick shower revitalized him. He sang as he lathered up, then raised his face to the spray, laughing as the water rushed over him. When he’d finished, he shook his head like a long-haired dog fresh from a dip in the pond. Still smiling, he dressed in a clean shirt and jeans.
He felt drunk with happiness.
Glen didn’t sober up until he reached town. Then and only then did the seriousness of his mission strike him. Not once had he given any thought to how he would word his proposal.
This was quite possibly the most important conversation of his life and he hadn’t even rehearsed it! His father had spoken to his potential father-in-law and not the bride. But even if Ellie’s father were alive, that approach didn’t really work anymore. Too old-fashioned.
He thought about getting down on one knee and spilling out his heart, but immediately dismissed the idea. No one did that sort of thing these days. Much too formal. By the same token, he didn’t want to make an offer of marriage sound like an invitation to go bowling, either. All he could do was hope the right approach presented itself when the moment arrived.
It was nearly closing time when he got to the store. Ellie was on the loading dock at the far end of the building, giving instructions to a delivery-truck driver as Glen parked his own truck in front of the store and turned off the engine. She damn near fell off the dock in surprise when she saw him.
That was promising, Glen thought. She must’ve missed him. He’d missed her like hell, and telling her so was probably as good a place to start as any. Having decided that much, he climbed out of the cab and walked up the steps.
“Hello, Glen,” Ellie’s assistant greeted.
“Hi, George.”
“Good to see you,” George Tucker said, then added in a low voice, “Damn good.”
“Glad to hear it.” Glen sat down in one of the lawn chairs by the front door near the soda machine, and waited until Ellie was free. It took almost ten minutes to supervise the unloading of a truckload of hay, but he was a patient man.
Ellie signed the necessary papers, then stood there for a moment, blinking into the sun. Her face was pink, and the hair at the back of her head was damp and clinging to her neck. It’d obviously been a long hot day.
“Do you have a few minutes?” he asked when she’d finished. “I’d like to talk to you—privately.” He added this last bit in case Richard was anywhere around.
“Privately,” Ellie repeated. Small vertical frown lines appeared between her brows.
“There’s, uh, something I’d like to discuss with you. Privately,” he said again.
“Do you want a cold drink?”
It was almost like old times, he told himself. Casual, relaxed, two friends talking.
“Something cold’d hit the spot,” he said, answering Ellie’s question.
She retrieved change from her pocket and slipped the coins into the pop machine. She handed him one of the cold damp cans and pressed the other to her forehead, then claimed the chair beside his.
Glen opened his drink, pulling back the tab with a small hissing sound, and took a long swallow.
George appeared. “Do you need me to do anything else?” he asked.
Ellie shook her head. “You’re free to go, thanks, George.”
“I’ll see you in the morning, then,” he said, turning the Open sign to Closed on his way past.
It might have been Glen’s imagination, but Ellie’s assistant seemed eager to be on his way.
Ellie answered his question before he could even ask it. “It’s his bowling night,” she explained.
His parents were like that, Glen mused. Often, his dad didn’t need to voice his thoughts for his mother to know what he was thinking. Sometimes that was true of close friends, as well. With Ellie, he could have love and friendship, and surely that was the best way to enter a marriage.
The late-afternoon sun blazed, but the heat didn’t seem nearly as bad, now that he was sitting in the shade with Ellie. A slight breeze stirred, cooling his skin, ruffling her hair.
“You wanted to talk to me,” Ellie began.
“Yeah.” Glen had hoped to make this as natural as possible.
“You haven’t been in for a while,” she said, staring straight ahead.
Ten days, not that Glen was keeping track or anything. Cal had taken care of the errands these past two weeks while Glen stayed close to the ranch.
“I’ve been busy,” Glen said, deciding it probably wasn’t a good idea to mention he’d been waiting to hear from her.
“So have I.”
Glen could just imagine who she’d been busy with, but he didn’t dare say that. Richard Weston wasn’t a name he wanted to introduce into their conversation—although he did wonder how much she’d been seeing of the guy.
“I wanted to talk to you about the dance first,” he said, and although he tried, he couldn’t keep his voice from sounding stiff. The events of that night still rankled him.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, seeing how—”
“I’d like to apologize,” he interrupted. If she wasn’t willing to admit her part in the disaster, then he’d be man enough to seek her forgiveness for his own role.
“Oh.”
“I didn’t mean to make us both fodder for gossip.”
“I know you didn’t,” she said, her voice softening perceptibly.
“You and I’ve been friends for quite a while now.”
She nodded. “Very good friends.”
Glen stuck his hand in his pocket and felt for the diamond ring. Holding on to it lent him the courage to continue. This was harder than he’d thought it would be, but too important to ruin with nerves. All he had to do was remind himself that this was Ellie, his longtime friend. In the years to come he wanted to be able to tell his children and his grandchildren about this day with the same sense of wonder and excitement he’d heard in his father’s voice when he’d relayed the tale of proposing to their mother.
“Since your dad’s gone, I feel a certain duty to protect you.”
“A duty?” A chill edged her voice.
“Well, not a duty exactly. More of…an obligation to see that no harm befalls you.” He knew he must sound stilted, kind of old-fashioned, but he couldn’t seem to help it.
“What do you mean by harm?”
The hell if he knew. “Perhaps ‘harm’ isn’t the best word, either. I want to look after you.”
“I’m not a child, Glen.”
“No, no, I don’t mean to imply that you are.” He could feel the sweat starting to break out across his forehead. Working his way up to this marriage proposal was harder than freeing a stuck calf from a mud hole. He swallowed painfully as he prepared to continue.
Ellie eyed him in consternation.
“What I’m trying to say,” he started again, gulping down some air, “is—Oh, damn.” He catapulted to his feet, finding it impossible to stay seated any longer. “Listen, Ellie, I’m not good at this. I’m the one responsible for embarrassing you and—”
“What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded.
Glen paced the porch, walking past the soda machine several times. “It hasn’t been easy deciding what to do, I want you to know that.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything.”
“I know, but I feel responsible.”
“Then I absolve you of all responsibility.” She waved one arm as if holding a magic wand.
“It isn’t that easy,” he muttered.
“What’s this all about?” she asked again.
Glen tilted his head back and expelled a long breath. This wasn’t going well. He should have practiced on Cal first, at least gone over what he intended to say, sought his brother’s advice.
Ellie had stood up, too.
It was now or never. Taking the plunge, he squared his shoulders and met her look head-on. “I think we should get married.”
“Married!” The word exploded out of her mouth. Almost as if she’d been struck, Ellie sat back down, gripping the sides of her chair with both hands. Then…she began to laugh. A deep robust laugh.
Glen was deflated. This woman had a great deal to learn about a man’s pride, he reflected sadly.
“You’re serious?” she asked when her laughter had dwindled to a low chuckle.
“I have a ring,” he said, pulling it out to prove his point. He held it between index finger and thumb.
Ellie’s eyes widened.
Dismissing his earlier plan, he decided she should know the truth about this particular ring. “Actually I borrowed it from Cal. This is the diamond Jennifer returned when she broke the engagement.”
She stared at him as if she hadn’t heard a word he said.
“I couldn’t very well propose without a ring,” he explained. “If you don’t like it, you can choose another one later, although I’ve got to tell you I think Cal would give us a good deal on it. But I’ll leave that decision up to you.”
Ellie blinked back tears and Glen relaxed. He knew once he got the word out, everything would be better.
“Why now?” she asked, her voice cracking. “What made you propose today?”
“We’re friends,” he said. “That’s one reason. I enjoy being with you more than any woman I’ve ever known. You’ve got a lot of excellent qualities and…” He was running out of things to say. “Basically it’s time.”
“Time?”
“To get married. I’ve been thinking along those lines recently—”
“Because of Richard?”
Glen had hoped to get through this conversation without any mention of the other man. He cleared his throat. “Not entirely.”
Her responding smile was slight. “At least you’re honest enough to admit he has something to do with this.”
“Hey, it wasn’t me who sat on a porch kissing one man and then having brunch with another the next morning.” He wondered how she’d have felt if he’d shown up at her house with another woman on his arm. She wouldn’t have liked it any better than he’d liked seeing her with Richard. He wanted to tell her that, but figured he’d come off sounding jealous. Hell, he was jealous.
“You didn’t stick around long enough for me to explain.”
“What was there to say?” It was obvious enough to Glen what had happened, and frankly he wasn’t interested in hearing the details. Anyway, that was all in the past. What mattered now was the future.
“I’m flattered, Glen, that you’d ask me to marry you.”
“What do you think about the ring?” He held it up so she could get a better view. Cal had spared no expense with this beauty, but Glen realized he’d prefer to have Ellie choose her own ring. Something unique to her. To them.
Ellie’s hand closed over his. “Give the ring back to Cal.”
“I’m glad, because I’d rather the two of us shopped for one together.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“I said I’d rather the two of us picked out a diamond together,” he told her again, only louder.
“I heard you the first time,” she said impatiently. “What I meant was that I’m sorry, but no. I can’t marry you.”
It took him a moment to realize what she was saying. “You’re turning me down?” Each one of those words seared a hole through his heart. When he recovered from the shock, he asked, “Do you mind telling me why?” He had to know. Maybe he should have left things as they were, collected his shattered pride and gone home—but he couldn’t. “I…I thought we had something special.”
“We do. Friendship. You said it yourself, remember?”
He nodded.
“I don’t want a husband who proposes marriage to me because it’s an obligation.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” His voice sounded odd to his own ears. A little ragged and faraway.
“When and if I agree to marry anyone, I want it to be for specific reasons.”
“Okay, that sounds fair.” Weren’t his reasons specific? Glen’s ego came to the rescue, and the anger and pain in his voice were less evident now. More controlled.
“Reasons other than it’s time and you have excellent qualities. Reasons other than I should get married now and you’ll do.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“No, but you might as well have. Oh, and I almost forgot, you said you owed me.”
“Owed you what?”
“I might not get the words right so bear with me.” He could tell she was being sarcastic but wasn’t sure why. “Something about duty because you’d embarrassed me in front of the whole town.”
“I…I didn’t mean it to sound like that. Damn it, Ellie, you’re putting words in my mouth.”
“I don’t need any favors, Glen.”
He looked at her, afraid she was about to cry, but he was mistaken. Her face was strong and confident. She could give him all the excuses in the book, but he knew what was going on here and wasn’t shy about saying it, either.
“It’s Richard, isn’t it? You’re in love with him.”
“That’s it!” she cried.
“I thought as much.” He shoved the ring back into his pocket. He’d tell his brother to bury it—the diamond must be hexed.
“The thing is, Glen, you’re too late.”
“Too late?” He didn’t know what the hell she meant by that, but he wasn’t sticking around to find out.
Ellie, however, insisted he hear her out. “Richard came by earlier and he proposed. Sorry, Glen, he beat you to the punch.”